Make Me Human
by Claire Belle
Summary: Though James Potter is a Marauder, suave player, and quidditch star, he still has his embarrassing moments, fears, and stupidity. Of course, Lily Evans is too busy hating his guts to notice, even when he makes a complete fool of himself
1. Talking, Planning, Arguing

Hello future reader and possibly future fan (crosses fingers)! You opened my story! Thank you! Sorry about the summary. Well, I hope you enjoy it. This is my second fic (LJ of course), and I'm trying to make this chapter as long as I can for all of you. :-) Please review at the end too!

Another note: All the spells I use will most likely be accurate, or I will at least try the best I can.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and all related characters, plot, etc. However, I do own the characters you've never heard of before! Woohoo- ;-)

Chapter 1: Talking, Planning, Arguing

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves… Everybody's nerves, everybody's –"

"Sirius! _Please!_" an adorable sandy-blonde haired seventh year shoved his ruggedly handsome best friend off of the squishy, scarlet couch.

"What? Do you not like my song?"

"No, Padfoot, we _love your song_," a messy haired Quidditch star and captain said sarcastically, not even bothering to flick his eyes up from his Potions essay.

"Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much."

"Why do you encourage this, James?" Remus looked exasperatedly over at Sirius, whose antics portion of the night was in full swing.

James looked thoughtful for a moment, "Because I can?"

"Wrong answer!" Sirius flipped backwards over the couch.

Remus and James gave each other a knowing look and held up their right arms into the air, snapped their fingers twice, and pointed at Sirius, sprawled rather painfully on the floor. Immediately, twenty girls had gathered themselves around the dazed Marauder and led him off towards a different couch in the Gryffindor common room.

"_Nice_," James said, high-fiving a grinning Remus.

"Works every time," Moony said, returning satisfied back to his Arithmancy project.

"I heard that!" Sirius called over from his mass of giggling fan-girls as his head emerged for air.

"Padfoot, you really don't care!"

"True," he said, shrugging as his head disappeared once more.

------in the boys dorm------

"Had a nice night, Padfoot?" Remus joked, coming out of the shower room.

"As usual," Sirius said candidly and downed a chocolate frog.

"Good to be a Marauder!" James raised a bottle of butterbeer into the air heartily.

"Hear hear!" Remus and Sirius clinked their bottles with his.

"So, what prank is coming up next?" Sirius flipped over on his bed.

"Well, I guess we could pull one for Halloween," James suggested.

"_Or_, we could pull a _series_ of smaller pranks with a theme, all leading up to the grand finale on Halloween night!" Remus sat up excitedly on his bed.

"_Perfect_!" James exclaimed, taking another joyous swig of his butterbeer.

"And at the Halloween ball, no less, eh?" Sirius laughed.

"Which reminds me – You had better start now, James, on getting Lily to go with you," Remus said bluntly. "You don't want to run out of time at the end."

"Thanks," James said. "You never know, this could be _the year_."

"In fact… I believe I hear Miss Evans and her friends entering the common room right now," Sirius said, motioning to the door.

"Let's go," Remus sighed, knowing his friends' intentions all too well. Lily and her friends, Abigail and Karise, were the only girls in their year, possibly even the whole school, who could avoid swooning madly at the sight of the Marauders. In fact, Lily rather despised James, while James tried unsuccessfully to win her over. James Potter had, in fact, finally met his match.

"To the common room!" James thrust his fist into the air.

"Oh boy," Sirius and Remus looked at each other before exiting hastily after him.

The three Marauders leapt down the dormitory stairs into the common room, James ruffling his hair suavely.

"Oi! Evans!" he called, stalking up towards Lily, Abigail, and Karise sitting serenely on a couch by the fireplace.

Lily didn't even bother to look up.

"_Go Away, Potter_," she enunciated sharply. James just grinned smoothly.

"How would _you_," James produced a rose from inside his robes. "Like to go with _me_ to the Halloween ball?"

"Problem is," she said, still scribbling down her Charms essay. "The question isn't _how _I would like to go with you – seeing as I wouldn't like it at all. I don't think I could manage it."

James' eyes flickered for a short moment, but years of these witty remarks had become second nature to him, and he nonchalantly shrugged, saying, "Oh, don't worry, Evans. It won't be hard."

"Harder than this essay that I am _trying_ to finish here," she spat back, becoming increasingly more annoyed. "If it wasn't for a certain arrogant _prick _pestering me and making me wonder why I haven't charbroiled him yet in these flames." She motioned towards the fireplace, which was illuminating her red, wavy hair and making her look that much more intemperate.

"I don't taste very good burnt, Evans, dear," James had a mischievous glint in his eye as he continued. "I would much rather you try me as is."

"Shove off, Potter," Lily glared at him, knocking the wilting rose out of his hand and into the fire and standing up fiercely.

"Prongs, now would be a good time to –" Sirius was cut off quickly by Lily's continuing rant.

"You disgusting _pig_!" she shoved him hard on the shoulder. "You think you can just win whichever girl's heart you want – "

"Evans… Evans, just calm down," James tried to reason, recognizing the furious spark in her ivy colored eyes that meant danger. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

Lily whipped out her wand swiftly and pointed it threateningly at his chest and said, low and menacing, "Go ahead. _Make my day_." (A/N: Sorry, can't remember where that line came from, but it's not mine!)

James' hand hovered expertly over his wand pocket and began to back away slowly, knowing that if she fired a spell, he would be forced to fire one back, and he didn't want to really injure her.

"Lily, put it _down_," Abigail whispered anxiously from on the couch. Lily just shot her a look.

"If I don't stop you now, Potter," Lily tightened her grip on her wand. "I'll get one heck of a lot of grief from you about going to this Halloween ball."

"Good point, dearest," he said, looking for a way to avoid drawing his own wand. "Now, I'll just see you at the Heads/Prefects' meeting, alright?"

"_No_, Potter!" she took a step forward. "I want you to leave me _alone_!"

"Lily – "

She shouted angrily, "_Incarcerous_!"

James' senses perked, and just as menacing ropes began to shoot out of the tip of her wand, he whipped out his own and countered, "Expelliarmus!"

Lily dropped to one knee with her wand lying a few feet away. James had made a motion to help her up, but she just glared at him and stalked up to her dormitory, leaving Abigail and Karise to look blankly at the Marauders and start to gather their things. Eventually, they cast one rather sorry look at the trio and rushed up the stairs after Lily. James looked at his wand and wishing he hadn't been forced to do that to her, but shook his head determinedly and motioned for his friends to follow him.

Just as they reached the foot of their stairs, he noticed Lily's wand lying on the carpet forgotten. He sighed and reached over to pick it up, sticking it in his back pocket for later.

------in the girl's dormitory-----

"Alright, Lils?" Karise poked her head into their room with Abigail close behind.

"Stupid, stupid Potter," Lily muttered to herself, lying on her back atop her bright red comforter.

Karise nodded silently to Abigail, and they proceeded with caution into the dorm.

"Lils, you know you're going to have to face him when you go to the Heads' meeting…" Abigail sat gently on the edge of her bed, fiddling with a hair brush.

"I know, I know," Lily sighed exasperatedly and rolled over onto her stomach. "I just hate him, that's all."

The three of them looked at each other and smiled.

"Oh, okay," Lily walked over to her bag and started sifting through it. "So what if he's really a good person inside? He's still conceited and annoying on the outside."

"Well, you know what _our_ advice would be," Karise lay on her bed facing the ceiling.

"_Yes,_" Lily sat down on her bed again with a quill and parchment. "Give him at least one – bloody – chance."

"Exactly," Abigail said. "Of course, without the 'bloody' part."

"Yeah, Lily," Karise waved her wand lazily at the ceiling, drawing pictures and doodling. "I mean, _four years_ of chasing after you, pining for your unattainable love, being your knight –"

"Kar, enough," Lily said, frowning at her essay.

"Well, what I was _saying_," Karise rolled her eyes. "Was that he's shown a lot of commitment… something that most girls would kill to have…" There was a long pause between the usually talkative girls.

"So, Derren's not keeping up with your standards?" Abigail prodded.

"Nope," Karise shook her head nonchalantly. "Took me long enough to realize it, though. I can be so thick sometimes."

"_Merlin!_ I was supposed to shower ten minutes ago, get dressed for the Heads' meeting, finish this essay, and then beat Potter and – " Lily was quickly cut off by Karise's ushering her into the shower.

"Just hurry up and shower right now," she said, pushing Lily towards the door of the bathroom.

"But – my essay!"

"Leave it. You can finish it later!"

"But – " Lily clutched the parchment and quill to her chest protectively.

"Put it down… Yes, that's it, keep going. Down. _Down. _ Right, now pip pip."

Lily scampered into the bathroom, reluctantly leaving the essay on the bed.

"What would that girl do without me?" Karise flopped back down on her bed.

Abigail just shrugged.

-----at the Heads' Meeting----

"Potter," Lily acknowledged as she entered the nearly empty classroom and set down her papers.

"Evans," James said, smirking and half mimicking her severe tone. She just glared at him as the prefects that were already there giggled softly in their seats.

Lily shifted her chair away from him and stared dully down at her massive stack of handouts as they waiting in silence for the rest of the Prefects. After around five minutes of Lily resolutely staring at her notes and James scribbling furiously what seemed to be a timetable of sorts. James glanced over at her, at his bent quill, then back at her for a second.

He tapped her politely on the shoulder. She looked up, taking her time to finish her last sentence, and finally flicked her piercingly green eyes up at him.

"Can I borrow a quill?" he whispered quietly as if they were in a library and the Prefects were just weird onlookers, gathered to watch them study.

Lily sighed slightly and rummaged in her bag for one. Finally, her head popped up again, and she handed him a rather weathered looking one, saying skeptically, "You don't have one in your bag right there?"

"No," he said, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm not a Boy Scout. I carry one quill, and if it breaks, I ask you."

"Clever," she said shortly and turned back to her work.

"Uh, Lily?" he said, shifting in his seat.

She started at hearing her first name used, but spat out, "What is it, Potter?"

"I only use the fine point quills," he grinned cheekily at her. "This one is – "

"I know what it is, Potter," she eyed him testily before yelling. "_Just take the stupid quill!_"

"Miss Evans," Dumbledore said serenely. "First of all, what quill? And secondly, I highly doubt that this quill appreciates your calling him, or her, 'stupid.' I have never seen a more intelligent looking quill, and if you would, Mr. Potter, take the erudite quill from Miss Evans' lovely hand, we can begin this meeting in order."

"Yes, Professor," Lily and James replied in unison while Dumbledore gave them a knowing wink.

"Remember students," he said, his cloak sweeping the floor on his way to the back of the classroom. "There are no stupid quills."

Many of the Prefects nodded vaguely, while others just looked outright confused.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said calmly, motioning for them to start the meeting.

"Right. First of all, I have made handouts for all of you regarding your hall patrolling duties and schedules," Lily got out of her chair to pick up her large stack of papers. She attempted to smoothly slip the pile off of the edge and pass them out, but they fell through her arms and spread out over the floor.

Lily's face pinked slightly as she stooped to realign them again. She glanced briefly up at James, and he looked out at the room of Prefects waiting for him to do something cool.

"Well… Free for all, I guess!" he said, running his hand through his hair as he helped Lily to her feet and away from the mob now ensuing as the students all rushed up to grab a handout.

James expected Lily to thank him, but she pulled herself out of his grasp and leaned against the wall, waiting for the students to sit down again.

"Now, as I was saying," Lily began walking towards the front table and slipped on a few remaining handouts, landing squarely on her back, her face turning an even brighter shade of red.

James rushed forward to help her and "unintentionally" slipped on a few handouts himself. The Prefects chuckled good naturedly, thinking it had been James' plan all along to start with some humor.

"Seems to be a slippery spot," he said smoothly. He pulled Lily to her feet and held out her chair, as she gave him a small, unsure smile, very much unhappy with her two mishaps.

"Okay, so," James clapped his hands together for silence and sat down in his seat. "Review that packet and _learn your schedules,_ people! Lily and I don't have time to make sure you're all in your areas at 9:00 every other night. Learn them and learn them well, alright?"

A wave of nods went through the crowd as they all looked at James with admiration and stowed the schedules into their bags.

"Now as to the reason why _I _am here," Dumbledore stood up slowly, a merry twinkle in his eye. James sat down and gave him the floor, as all eyes turned to listen to the wizened fellow making his way to the front, an air of stateliness and cheer radiating from his stature and half-moon spectacles.

"As many of you know," he continued. "The Halloween ball will indeed take place this year." A round of applause and whoops came from the prefects.

"This ball is open to all those third year and up, will include a live band, full-hall decorations, food, and of course, dates," he said, peering down at them. "I would also recommend a visit to Hogsmeade planned for the weekend before and I will leave you two, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter, in charge of overseeing the planning for this event."

He nodded to them kindly and quietly exited the room with a bow to the Prefects.

Lily looked at her watch, yawning. "Alright, folks, time for bed. We'll continue this topic the day after tomorrow and bring some ideas with you!" she called after them as they exited the door with cheery waves to both the Heads.

After they had all gone, Lily began to stick things back into her bag and brushed her hair impatiently out of her eyes.

"Well, that was a good meeting, Evans," James said quietly.

"Yep," she replied shortly.

"What do you think about the Weird Sisters?" he asked coolly. "They're pretty new, but I hear they can play pretty well."

"Mhmm," she nodded vaguely.

"I actually heard them play once," he continued. "They've got great beats and –"

"As much as I hate to say this," Lily turned to face him, her bag completely packed now. "Thanks for covering for me."

"No problem," he smiled gallantly. Lily eyed him warily, walked around the table, and was almost out the door when James remembered something, "Wait! You, uh, forgot this in the common room earlier." He held out her wand, apprehensively awaiting her reaction.

"How – " she began, staring at her wand in his grasp, her eyes beginning to spark with indignation. "Nevermind."

She took her wand and left hurriedly, her fiery hair personifying the suppressed fury she felt recalling their incident in the common room. She rushed up to her Head's room and planned on taking a nice, _long_ bath, away from James Potter.

A/N: So, do you like it? I'm trying not to make it too fast, and Lily gets mood-swingy sometimes. . Well, I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading! **Please review! It would make my day!**


	2. Torn

Hi! Here's the next chapter!

Thanks and infinite brownie loaves to: **zippyfox** and **webling-girl05** and also to those of you who put my story on your favorites list!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter stuff, JK Rowling does!

Chapter 2: Torn

"Get up, Lily!" Abigail shook her friend awake. "Time for breakfast!"

"Go away," Lily moaned from under her comforter.

"You'll miss breakfast…"

"I'll starve," she replied grumpily. "It's all cool."

"_Li-ils!_"

Lily threw an extra pillow over at Karise's bed, mumbling, "Karise? Do _you_ want to get up now?"

"No…" she replied, throwing the pillow back.

Lily peered out from under the covers at a frustrated Abigail, "We seem to have reached a consensus."

"Fine!" Abigail hurriedly walked downstairs into the common room.

-----in the common room-----

"What's going on?" Abigail asked a fourth year, gawking at the massive crowd forming at the bulletin board.

"I dunno," the fourth year replied squeakily before hurrying over to the mass.

"Gee, thanks," Abby muttered sourly and tried to peer over the shorter students.

Suddenly the students all heard ear-splitting screams coming from the girl's dormitory and turned just in time to see Lily and Karise sprinting down the stairs with two pillows flying close behind them. Lily spotted Abigail in the crowd and glared as her pillow began to catch up and thumped her on the back.

"See you at _breakfast,_ Abby," Karise called bitterly.

"Whatever," Abby said, smirking that she had gotten them out of bed successfully.

After a slight pause, she called out to the two girls now running down the corridor, "You're still in your pajamas!" The students all listened intently.

"_Oh bloody –_" Lily came running back into the common room, but started at the sight of all the underclassmen staring at her. "– Heck."

-----Charms class-----

"Class!" Professor Flitwick shouted from atop his pile of books, cushions, and what seemed to be unwanted mail. "Take your seats!"

The class took its time in quieting down and eventually all of the students, even the Marauders, had made their way back to their respective tables.

"Alright," Flitwick continued unfazed. "Today we will be working with memory charms." A fluttering of "ooh"'s went through the classroom.

"Now, seeing as we can't possibly train on each other," he cleared his throat and looked pointedly at the Marauders, who gave him a jocund wave. "We will be working with these birds, who are all trained to fly to me when I snap my fingers. Now everyone take a bird and get to working."

Lily grabbed her bird and begrudgingly sat down between Karise and Abigail. She still had pieces of pillow fluff in her hair and stared sullenly down at her bird.

"How do we do this?" Abby asked, looking rather harried. Karise just prodded her bird with her wand and looked expectantly at Lily.

"Just point and say 'obliviate'," Lily glanced at their tired faces. "Come on, it's not that hard…"

"For _you_, maybe," Abby began to poke her bird as well.

"Watch," Lily swiftly erased the birds memory and it sat like a rock on her desk.

"Now, let me see how all of you have done!" Flitwick's voice came wafting over the classroom. He beamed at all of them and snapped his fingers. In a horrible rush of wings, nearly every bird in the classroom flew directly at Professor Flitwick, successfully knocking him off of his perch. He got up disgruntled and shooed the birds back to their owners.

"I see only three students have actually completed the task," Flitwick attempted to climb back up the stack. "Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin – well done. To the rest of you, I will be walking to each of your desks and testing your birds… individually."

"Oh no," Karise slumped in her seat and looked hopelessly at Lily. "Individual testing?"

"Good for Professor Flitwick, bad for you," Lily supplied carefully.

"Uh, yah."

"Well, let's get to work," Abby grumpily pointed her wand at her bird, who decided to make a run for it and tried to leap off the desk.

"Oh no you don't," she quickly stunned the bird and placed it firmly in front of her.

"Obliviate," she said sharply. "_Obliviate_… **Obliviate**…"

Lily cleared her throat and rested her head on her desk.

"Miss Karise Greeley and Miss Abigail Staunton," Professor Flitwick made his way jovially over to their table. "Show me your memory charms."

"Obliviate!" they both said in unison.

Flitwick, looking doubtful, snapped his fingers cautiously and held out his arm, ready to receive the birds. Lily, however, coughed gently and surprisingly, the birds merely seemed to hover on their toes before settling back down onto the desk.

Professor Flitwick looked unsure for a moment before glancing at Karise and Abby then at Lily, "Well done."

After he had walked away, Abby gushed, "Thanks Lils! You're the best!"

"Seriously," Karise added. "We would've been dead if Flitwick found out we couldn't do yet _another _charm."

"You guys just need… practice, that's all," Lily began to pack her things.

Across the room, the rest of the Marauders, even Peter, had somehow managed to pass the test as well.

"Sure…" Abigail trailed off.

"I need food!" Karise rushed off towards the Great Hall for lunch.

-----the Heads' Meeting that night-----

"Alright, settle down!" James stood up and glanced at his watch.

"Has anyone come up with any ideas?" Lily asked, hoping for reasonable responses.

"The Weird Sisters!" someone shouted from the back as a wave of agreement went through the group of Prefects. A few started clapping and whispering excitedly.

"Now, do we want to take a chance on a relatively new band?" Lily said, looking apprehensive to cave in.

"_YES_," came the reply.

"But what if they cancel on us at the last minute or – "

"Lily," James interrupted. "Give the band a chance."

"Yeah! Come on, Lily! _Ple-ease_?" the room erupted into pleads coming from all directions.

Lily looked at James, unhappy that he had goaded them into pressuring her. He quickly took the hint and piped up, "Well, then again, Lily has a point, you know… I mean, what happens if the _entire school _wants entertainment and the Weird Sisters bailed?"

"_Ja-ames_!" came the protests.

"Just because you have a crush on Lily and want to please her – "

Both Heads turned noticeably red and wrote "Weird Sisters" on the chalkboard in bold letters.

"I think for everything else, we should make committees and James and I will oversee the process," Lily turned to face the group.

"When I read your name and committee, stand in your respective corner of the room and wait for further instruction," James began to read the list. "Paisley Torrington – decorations, Darius Wellsboro – food, Rebecca Easton – publicity, and Kaleb Parry – music. You four are the committee heads and will make sure your group runs smoothly." The four went to the corners and created four small circles of desks.

As an afterthought, Lily snatched the paper out of James' hand and said, "You may choose the rest of your groups." A good many cheers came from the Prefects as they rushed about the room to find their friends.

James, surprised that Lily would give them free range, had only time to add, "But don't leave anyone out!"

The committees assembled, and soon there came an outburst of thoughts and ideas throughout the room.

"I think we should do an all orange and black setting!"

"Or a Bewitched theme!"

"A _what_?"

"Bewitched… Never mind."

"Let's put candy corn everywhere – bowls and bowls of it!"

"Gross! I hate candy corn!"

"Fine, we'll stick to _plain old wizard food_."

"Well, it _is_ Halloween."

"Fliers, singing suits of armor maybe?"

"How about a Marauder prank to get everyone interested?"

"Well, word of mouth always works too."

"This is going to spread like wildfire!"

"Only if we make it good," Lily reminded and smiled at the thought.

"Make sure you've all got your ideas on paper and ready to be put into action!" James called out over the racket. "We'll be setting the Hogsmeade trip for the weekend before… as well as the weekend before that."

An explosion of cheers and whoops came from the Prefects. They had never had two Hogsmeade trips in a row. And the award for best Heads in the history of Hogwarts goes to…

"Alright, quiet down!" James called out once more.

"We're only doing this to give you some extra time to find the perfect set of dress robes and maybe grab some Butterbeer to calm your nerves," Lily said, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Goodnight!" James dismissed them and began erasing the chalkboard. Again the two Heads were alone in the classroom.

"Nice idea about choosing their own groups, Evans," James said with his back to her.

"Well, it was a spur of the moment thing," she looked distractedly out the window.

"So, are you going up to our Heads' dorm?"

"Yeah," Lily replied, stuffing the last of her books into her bag.

"Can I walk you there?"

"Umm… I guess so."

"Great."

They both stood there looking at their feet and waiting for the other to say something.

"So, are we going or not?" Lily asked, a trace of annoyance in her voice as she realized that she was going to walk _with James –bloody- Potter_.

"Oh, right!" he jumped up and held the door open for her.

Once they were in the corridor, James and Lily turned a left and walked straight into a group of giggling seventh year girls.

"**_James!_**" they all squealed at once and rushed forward to greet him.

Lily, looking a bit disconcerted, stepped backwards and watched as they engulfed James, sweeping him down the path to the Gryffindor common room.

"Wait! Lily!" he called, unable to sneak through the girls' barricade.

Lily, unabashed, yelled, "It's fine, Potter, I understand."

James finally managed to break free and ran over to her. "Wait, I wanted to walk with you…"

"It's okay, Potter."

"Jamie!" came the calls from the fangirls as they realized that they no long held possession over the handsome quidditch star. They all rushed to his side, begging him to come back with them to the common room.

"Jamie-poo, come on!" one said distractingly. "I'm getting cold out here."

"Sirius is there already, Jamie," another tugged at his sleeve. "Just follow us."

"Jamie, I demand that you don't go back to that dorm all by yourself!" a third stamped her foot in half-meant impatience.

"Okay, okay, girls," James said, putting on his smooth-talking side. "Just give me a moment. I promise, loves. I'll be right there… So, Lily – "

With that, Lily turned on her heel and walked off in the opposite direction going up to her private dormitory.

"Lily…" James sighed, torn. Finally he wrenched his disappointed eyes away from her direction and ran a frustrated hand through his jet-black hair.

"Ja-mi-e…"

"_Fine_," he said, defeated, and turned to go to the common room.

A/N: Well, there you all go! Another chapter! I hope all of you like it – even those of you who aren't reviewing:-) Well, I appreciate it all the same.

If you don't mind, though, **Please Review – It Would Make My Day!**


	3. Headache

Hello wonderful reader – and hopefully reviewer as well! First of all, thanks SO much to all of you that are reading and reviewing! All of the reviews made me want to write more, so here I am, writing more for all of you!

Many thanks and Pillsbury sugar cookies to: **Cyborg-chick**, **L-Ae-D**, **lucemvicuna**, **VeelaChic**, **Sarahrules336**, **webling-girl05**,** zippyfox**, and **Me- Myself- and James**! And also thanks to those of you put me on alert or on favorites!

Disclaimer: I don't any of the Harry Potter stuff – JK Rowling does.

**Important NOTE**: If you haven't read the Half Blood Prince _entirely_ yet, there might be a spoiler in this chapter if you've only started or have gotten only part of the way through. If that's the case, it might reveal who the HBP is. Happy reading!

Chapter 3: _Head_ache

"I love food… Yes I do… Food, food, food," Sirius sang as the four Marauders headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Sing it with me now!" Surprisingly, none of the Marauders opted to join in his merriment.

"It's too early for this," Remus complained, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, undeterred. "Did you know that if you say 'food' over and over and over and over and over again, it sounds really weird?"

"Fascinating!" Peter squeaked.

"Actually, it works with 'over' too," Sirius nodded. "Over, over, over, over, over…"

The Marauders entered the Great Hall, and Sirius became too busy with stuffing his face full of bacon and waffles to care about the word "over," much to Remus' relief.

"So, about five weeks until Halloween Ball," James prompted. "Any dates, yet?"

Remus looked around him cautiously, "No. I haven't really thought about it with, er, that time of the month coming around…"

"Right," Sirius nodded understandingly. "Well, I've got a list to choose from, but I've kind of… been there, done that, you know?"

"Is there anyone that you _haven't _tried yet, Padfoot?" Remus asked, looking slightly disgusted at his friend's unstable love life.

"Er, no," he said candidly. "I mean, well, uh, I'm sure there's someone."

"Well, you go ahead and find that someone, mate," James looked at him through glasses half covered in egg that had been flung at him during Sirius' whirlwind eating.

"You've, er, got a little something on your, uh," Remus motioned vaguely at his face.

"Yeah, I know," James said distractedly as he stared over at Lily sitting with her friends and laughing.

"We've lost him," Sirius said casually as he polished off his once mountainous pile of food.

"We'll see you in Potions, Prongs," Remus clapped him on the shoulder and walked out with Sirius, Peter following close behind.

"Uh huh…"

Soon James realized that he was sitting all by himself and got up to leave. When he arrived in the dungeons, only Lily was sitting in her seat – apparently, Remus needed an emergency visit to the Hospital Wing.

"Hey, Evans," James began, setting his bag down on an empty table. "I didn't mean – I – Last night – I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's okay," Lily said slowly, not looking up from her parchment in front of her. She glanced at him and walked over to his table.

"So, next meeting is scheduled for tonight, okay?" she said casually, desperately wanting to change the subject.

"Sure," James smiled at her.

"Potter, you've got, er, eggs on your glasses," she said, staring at the yellow globs on his glasses.

"What?" James asked, confused.

"You – Well, you have…" she trailed off, befuddled by the unusual situation. "There's yellow… Here." She sighed exasperatedly and pulled out a handkerchief. Gently, she wiped off the egg and handed him the smeared, yellow cloth.

"_Oh_," he said lamely and looked down at the handkerchief. "Must have been from Sirius. You know how he eats."

"Did you, uh, want…" he held the handkerchief out a bit, even though it was covered in what had been trying to escape Sirius' mouth earlier that morning.

"That's okay," she said, biting her lip. "Keep it."

"Right,"

"See you tonight, Potter," Lily made her way back to her seat as other students, including the rest of the Marauders, came filing in.

"In your seats!" Professor Slughorn called out. "Today, we will be making the Draught of Living Death. The ingredients are on the board, and I expect you all to be finished in one hour. You may begin."

"So… James? Remus?" Sirius looked at both of them expectantly.

"Fine," Remus sighed. "Sirius, you get the asphodel, wormwood infusion, valerian roots, and sopophorous bean. James, you and I will figure out the directions."

"What do I do?" Peter piped up.

"You, uh, get a cauldron," James said, peering at the board.

At Lily's table, she had instructed Karise to get the ingredients and for Abigail to help her carry them.

"Let's see," Lily murmured to herself. "This shouldn't be too hard."

Walking towards the cabinet, Karise asked, "Abby, would you mind fetching us a cauldron to work with?"

"Sure,"

"Okay, asphodel, wormwood infusion… or was it?" Sirius muttered to himself, poking his head inside the cabinet's doors.

"Black," Karise said, looking over his shoulder. "Would you mind letting me get my stuff?"

"Uh, sure," he said, forgetting his list of ingredients altogether.

"Thanks," Karise said, as she turned to leave, her arms full of bottles and jars. "By the way, it's on the board."

Sirius turned around sheepishly and muttered a quick thanks, looking over at the chalkboard.

"What an idiot," Karise shook her head and watched him wink jauntily over at his group of admirers.

Sirius and Peter returned to the table to find Remus determinedly copying down the directions and James flirting with a couple of airheaded girls behind him. Remus looked up and cleared the space, then sharply poked James with his wand.

"Alright, alright," James put up his hands in defeat and turned around.

"Now, James, you put the infuse the asphodel with wormwood. I'll chop and stir in the roots, and Sirius, you get the juice out of the bean," Remus instructed.

"And Peter, you can light the fire," he added as an afterthought.

"And, how exactly do you get the juice out of a sopophorous bean, Moony?" Sirius asked, turning the bean over on the table.

"I, er, dunno," he frowned. "I guess you can just cut it open."

"Okidoki," Sirius rummaged around in a drawer for a knife.

After they had added all of the ingredients, though Sirius' juice didn't turn out too well, the potion began to give off blue steam and Peter was allowed to stir it counterclockwise.

"Gee, I love stirring," Peter said amiably as the rest of the group just shrugged.

"Lils, I can't get the juice out of this stupid bean!" Abigail complained on their end of the room.

"Well… that's okay, just put whatever you have in and we'll stir it," Lily looked apprehensively at the board, which said nothing about juicing the bean.

"I wonder if it's in the book," Abby flipped open her textbook. "Nope, it's just as I thought: this book is completely useless."

"Hey, is it supposed to be such a dark purple color?" Karise peered into their cauldron.

"What?" Lily looked inside as well. "It's supposed to be lilac…"

"_Great_," Karise flopped down in her seat and at least consoled herself with the fact that everyone else in the room was also looking inside of their cauldrons and muttering words like "lilac," "purple," and "oh, bugger," the latter being the most common.

"Well, time's up," Slughorn clapped his hands together and looked in a few cauldrons.

"Well, I see not even our brightest pupils," he looked over at Lily. "Were able to finish this one. _But_, I see that Mr. Snape is the only one who successfully turned his potion a lovely lilac color. Care to share your secret?"

"Yes, sir," Snape replied, gritting his teeth rather noticeably. "I just made some… modifications to the instructions."

"Yes, well," Slughorn cleared his throat uncomfortably. "That is all for today. Remember! Twelve inches on this potion due on Monday!"

Snape bowed slightly to his professor and hurried out the door, scribbling furiously in what seemed to be an old potions textbook with small notations in the margins.

-----Great Hall during dinner-----

"So she just _gave _you her handkerchief?" Sirius asked James incredulously.

"Well, thanks to you and your horrible eating habits," James grinned triumphantly.

"Are you at least going to wash that egg off of it?" Remus eyed the dirty piece of cloth warily.

"What! No way, Moony!" James quickly stuffed it back into his pocket.

"That's disgusting, Prongs," Remus countered. "There's Sirius' mouth's contents on there! Who knows where his mouth has been?"

"Uh, I think every girl in this school knows, mate," James said, smirking at Sirius. "Besides, _Lily_ wiped it off for me. It's _special_ egg now."

"I see," Remus said shortly.

"Yep," James said happily and downed another piece of chicken. "This is going to be great." Sirius and Remus gave each other a knowing look before glancing unsurely over at Lily.

-----Head's Meeting-----

"It's official," James said, calling the meeting to order. "The Weird Sisters are coming to Hogwarts!" The classroom burst into raucous cheering and applause.

"And since they're new," James added. "We don't have to pay half as much as we normally would with a live band."

"Which means each committee is receiving an extra 50 galleons for expenses," Lily smiled at their excited faces.

"There's a catch, though," James silenced them. "You must all spend some of your time during one of the two Hogsmeade trips with your committee to do some shopping."

"If you don't mind me interrupting, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore calmly stepped into the classroom. "I think you and Miss Evans should be there to watch them and make sure they are not, dare I say, goofing off." He looked the Prefects with a small twinkle in his eye, then at James and smiled slightly.

"If not anything else," he continued. "You two will be able to plan any extra details or help those who need a bit of motivation. If you don't mind, I'll ask you two to be there to watch them on the first day – together." He eyed them skeptically, knowing the arguments they had a habit for starting with each other.

"Yes, sir," James grinned slightly and glanced at Lily's somewhat paled face. "We would be happy to oblige. Right, Lily? … Lily?"

"Yes," she said professionally, her face now void of emotion. "Of course, Professor."

"Good," Professor Dumbledore looked down at his watch. "I believe it is time for the students to return to their dormitories in any case. Goodnight."

The Prefects filed past the two Heads and chattered excitedly about the Weird Sisters all the way up to their dormitories.

"Well, Evans, it looks like – "

"I don't feel well," Lily said flatly, grabbing her book bag. "I'm going to go to the Hospital Wing."

"What's wrong, Lily?"

She jumped at the use of her first name. "_Head_ache," she replied shortly and turned to leave. (A/N: Get it? _Head-_ache? Sorry, just had to point that out.)

"Wait! Let me come with you," James scrambled out of his chair and scooped his books up.

"No, I think we know what happens when –"

"Come on," he ran a hand through his hair. "Don't –"

"I'll – I'll see you," she ran off towards the Hospital Wing, not even looking back once to see if he was following. Her bag flopped carelessly at her side, bruising her leg, but she kept running until she finally burst through the Hospital Wing doors, gasping for air.

"Remus! What're you doing here?"

A/N: Well, thanks again to all of you terrific reviewers for motivating me to write! I hope everyone liked this chapter, and I hope that last bit wasn't too cliffhanger-y. I feel like I keep ending chapters with Heads' Meetings – I should definitely change that for the next chapter, don't you think? Well, anyway, **Please review! Pretty please with sprinkles, hot fudge, and a cherry on top?**


	4. Loyalty

Hello wonderful reader! I'm SO sorry to all of my terrific readers and reviewers for not updating for so long! I got really busy, but I'm trying to catch up! I hope you like it!

Special Thanks and hmm… jelly beans to: **Sarahrules336**, **Tsumetai Moon Child**, **VeelaChic**, **fath8252**, **krazisoapluvnreject**, **webling-girl05**, **zippyfox**, **Me- Myself- and James, sectumsempra, soccerchicka19, **and** PadfootRoxMySox!**

Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter stuff – JK Rowling does, though.

Chapter 4: Loyalty

"_Remus! What are you doing here?"_

"Uh, hey Lily," he looked at her nervously, painfully aware of his sickly, pale face and exhausted appearance.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously, pulling a chair up to his bed.

"It's nothing," he paused. "I just feel a bit under the weather."

There was a long pause before Lily spoke again, "Whatever it is, Remus… It can't be that bad."

Remus gave a hollow, shaky laugh, "Maybe it can."

"I don't think so. And you can trust me to never tell a soul."

"I can?"

"Of course, Remus! I mean, we were Prefects together for a long time – I know you inside and out… Well, almost, I suppose."

"Alright," Remus sighed up at the ceiling, then searched her eyes earnestly before starting again. "I'm a werewolf."

Lily's eyes showed no signs of fear or disgust, but rather she adjusted the cool, damp towel on his forehead gently and looked deeply into his sad eyes.

"I was bitten as a child and now, every full moon, I… change. It's been crazy, you know? Living like – this… I'm so lucky to have friends…" he yawned widely.

"I understand, Remus," Lily patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "I promise I won't tell anyone… I'd better let you get back to resting."

"Thanks, Lily," he said softly, his eyelids drooping. "You're everything… everything James…" With that, he had fallen asleep, leaving Lily to frown over what he had said. Eventually, she got up to leave and headed to her dormitory to mull over what she had learned.

-----Next morning-----

"I love Saturdays…" Karise flopped carelessly onto her bed. "They make my world go round."

"It also means that I've got loads of essays to do," Lily popped her head out from the bathroom. "Breakfast, anyone?"

"Yeah!" Karise jumped up. "I'm _starved_."

"No surprise," Abigail finished brushing her hair.

"And proud of it," Karise retorted.

The three of them entered the Great Hall, cheerfully heading over to their usual seats.

"Could you pass the pumpkin bread, Lils?" Karise said, sipping from her glass.

"Lily?" Abigail looked at her absentminded face.

"Huh?" Lily looked up confusedly.

"The pumpkin bread, please?" Karise studied her face.

"Oh, sure," Lily continued to look distracted and kept swiveling around in her chair to look around the hall. "Hey, have either of you seen Remus this morning?"

"No," said Karise slowly. "Why?"

"No reason," Lily continued to look around then looked swiftly at Abigail. "Not for what _you're_ thinking, Abby."

"_What_!" Abigail looked shocked. "What, pray tell, was I thinking?"

"Nevermind," Lily said, waving her hand impatiently. "I'm going to go and get something from the dorm." Her friends looked at her quizzically.

"I forgot a book," she supplied hastily before getting up.

-----Hospital Wing-----

"Hey, Remus," Lily said softly, coming up to his sterilized hospital bed. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks," he replied wearily, propping himself up.

"You know," he continued. "I never really mentioned how I know what you go through sometimes… I mean, being called stuff because you're muggleborn. I used to get that a lot before I started keeping my condition a secret. I used to hate it, but… James, Sirius, Peter – they all help me, er, get through the month easily, you know?"

"And you have me too," Lily said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Remus smiled ruefully then added as an afterthought. "James is a really loyal friend."

Lily masked her look of skepticism.

"And I'm not just saying that to make him look good," Remus blurted out hastily. "I really mean it. He and the guys are always there for me – every month."

Lily smiled slightly, thinking that perhaps they deserved a little bit of credit. Suddenly, there was a soft knocking on the door of the Hospital Wing. Lily got up to open it, but soon found herself looking at James Potter, standing wide-eyed in the doorway.

"Lily?" James asked incredulously, looking completely shocked.

"Um, yeah," Remus piped up. "You two have met before, right?"

"Maybe a few times," James grinned tentatively, walking quickly over to his friend. "Excuse us for a second, Evans." James quickly crouched down beside Remus' bed and whispered intently.

"What did you tell her?" he searchced Remus' eyes for some kind of relief.

"Don't worry, Prongs," Remus loosened James' grip on his sheets. "Only the basics."

"Alright," James stood up again, his face relaxing slightly. "So, how are you feeling?"

Quietly, Lily came back into the main room and stared awkwardly out a window.

"Okay," Remus replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, and I've brought your books for studying tonight," James handed over a large stack of textbooks.

"Thanks, mate," Remus smiled slightly.

"Sirius and Peter plan to swing by later, so save up your energy," James grinned handsomely.

_Is this who Potter really is?_ Lily thought to herself.

"Well, I'll catch you later, Moony," James gave him a brotherly hug as Lily turned around from her spot at the window.

"Evans," James offered, smiling awkwardly.

"Potter," Lily replied, looking pleasantly confused. She hadn't expected James Potter to act so nicely – ever. She supposed that maybe she didn't give him enough credit, but then again, it could've been a fluke. She was getting soft.

Just as James turned to leave, Lily spotted something familiar sticking out of his pocket, "Is that my handkerchief?"

James turned around, startled, and reached quickly for his pocket, "Yes?"

Lily looked at him quizzically and blurted out, "Did you at least wash off the egg?"

"Er," James mumbled. "Right." He turned slightly to a highly amused Remus, his cheeks flushed slightly pink. Remus just looked at him as if to say, "I told you, man."

"Cheers," James muttered and bolted out the door.

Lily turned awkwardly to Remus, whose face was contorted with stifled laughter.

"I'll, er, see you, Remus," Lily managed to get out before she pulled her bag up and left the Hospital Wing in a state of perplexity and pending humiliation.

-----Girl's dormitory-----

"I don't understand him," Lily sat pensively on the edge of her bed.

"What's not to get?" Karise glanced over from her Transfiguration project. "He likes you, you – Oww!" Lily cut her off with a swift blow to the head with her pillow.

"We _did_ tell you, Lils," Abigail continued rummaging through her trunk. "You just wouldn't listen to the hard, cold facts: James is a nice person."

"He is not!" Lily retorted out of habit.

"Then why are we having this discussion?" Karise rolled her eyes.

"Because, _Kar_, James was being all… mature and brotherly today," Lily rolled her eyes back. "It's not like him. I think he's just _acting_ loyal so he can get on my good side again after that horrendous incident in the hallway."

"Horrendous, eh?" Karise looked at her curiously. "Since when does avoiding 'James bloody Potter' evoke a 'horrendous' from Lily Evans?"

"Since I said so," Lily crossed her arms in half-indignation, looking as if she wished her friends would just hate Potter along with her.

"Plus, I highly doubt it was an act, Lils. He's always been loyal to his friends," Karise shook her head, then added almost under her breath. "You just haven't noticed."

"And where was this again?" Abigail popped her head out from her trunk suddenly.

"In the hospital wing," Lily said, choosing her words carefully.

"Why?" Abigail prompted again, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Because Remus wasn't feeling well," Lily said smoothly. "You know, the flu." She hated telling lies of any sort, but she had made a promise to Remus.

"Oh," Abigail replied, her head plunging itself once more into the trunk.

"I mean, James is – appears to be – a completely different person with his friends," Lily continued. "He's all caring and… not arrogant." Lily looked a bit deflated.

"My, my," Karise shook her head in mock solemnity. "I believe it's the beginning of the Apocalypse." This earned her another smack by Lily's pillow.

"I just," Lily's voice faltered dangerously. "Never knew he changed. Or maybe he didn't change. But it seemed like it… He wasn't quite so full of himself, not so eager to please a crowd, and not so bent on making me – _completely _– aggravated… I mean, who knew?" Karise and Abigail raised their hands cheekily.

"Well, I don'tthink that he's a _different_ person," Lily defended herself. "He's just got a soft spot for his friends, I guess."

Karise and Abigail looked at each other knowingly. Lily caught their eyes.

"He's a completely revolting human being otherwise!" Lily stood up stubbornly, her hands planted firmly on her hips. "I am by no means changing my mind based on one – _incident_!"

Karise and Abigail pretended not to notice the determined glint in her eyes.

"He was… _is_ arrogant. An annoying git," Lily muttered.

"Sirius is just as bad," Karise made an angry swishing motion with her wand. "At least James has some sense." She hated that he had a fanclub and acted completely big-headed because of it. Both Lily and Karise looked at Abigail, who remained silent during their bashing of the Marauders.

"Well, Remus is okay, I guess," Abby began.

"Abby and Remus sitting in a – " Karise and Lily began to sing enthusiastically.

"He's just nice to me, okay?" Abby pouted at her friends' ludicrous assumptions. "Besides, I don't like to judge people." She looked at Lily pointedly.

Lily opened her mouth to continue her scrutiny of James, but Karise cut her off, "Lunch time!"

The three of them made their way down to the Great Hall, Lily and Abigail trailing behind Karise. They sat down at their seats, Lily occasionally stealing glances in James' direction. Suddenly, Sirius made his way over to them.

"Karise," he addressed, holding a turkey drumstick in one hand and speaking with his mouth full of turkey bits. "James is holding the quidditch tryouts next week, and he wants the rest of the team to be there too, 'kay?"

Karise looked slightly disgusted, "Sure." Sirius noticed Lily looking somewhere and thinking hard. He followed her gaze curiously and found himself looking in the Marauders' direction. He jogged back to his seat next to James and began to gesture extravagantly with his drumstick towards Lily's area as James' eyes began to grow wide. By this time, Lily had realized what Sirius was doing, and as soon as James looked over at her, she scowled deeply and turned resolutely back to her friends.

-----Hospital Wing later that night-----

"What's up, Moony?" Sirius, James, and Peter sat down beside his bed.

"The usual," Remus grinned at his friends.

"We thought that since you're the only one here," James looked around quickly. "We'd plan our Halloween prank extravaganza!" Remus reached for a paper and pen to do his usual recording duties.

By the end of the night, they had thought up six days' worth of Marauder-worthy pranks and one grande finale for the ball. (A/N: Sorry, I'll let you all find out what they are when they come around!)

"This is going to be _great,_" James put his hands behind his head and leaned back slowly.

-----Girls' Dormitory-----

Lily had just begun to drift into Potter-free sleep when she heard a distinct rapping on her window. Groggily, she sat up in bed and looked around to see if her friends had noticed the noise – apparently not. She reluctantly made her way to the window and peered outside to find a white, almost silvery owl peering right back. Lily carefully lifted the window open and allowed the impatient owl to enter the dorm.

"Who would send a letter _now_?" Lily complained to herself, opening the letter the owl had brought and glancing grumpily at the clock. The letter read:

Dear Lily,

Wondering where you wanted to meet for Hogsmeade two weeks from now. I don't know where you like to go best, so just write me back your favourite place, and I'll meet you there. By the way, were you staring at me at lunch today? Sirius said that you were. But then you scowled at me, Evans. I don't get you, but I'm still thrilled to take you to Hogsmeade!

Yours Truly,

James Potter

Lily frowned for a moment and rummaged through her drawer for a quill and parchment. She thought for a moment before writing back:

Dear Potter,

Who writes letters at 12:30 in the morning! My favorite place is The Three Broomsticks. Does 9:00 sound okay? And **_NO_**, I was **not** staring at you during lunch! Sirius is not a reliable source for matters concerning my train of thought! Goodnight (as in don't bother me again with an owl at this hour).

Sincerely,

Lily Evans

A/N: Sorry to everyone again for the _long_ wait! I hope you liked the chapter, and that (hopefully) it was worth the wait? Anyway, **Please Review – It Would Make My Day!**


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